Today, it is common for a software application to have several components where not all of the components are written in the same language or use the same technology. For example, a software application may have components written in Java, C++, XML (extensible markup language), HTML (hypertext markup language), etc. and may further include components based on different technologies such as Java servlets, JavaBeans, Java Server Pages, Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs), etc. Often, it is the case that not all of the components are written by the same programmer or by the same programming team. The components may even be part of a framework that facilitates application development. A framework provides a specification or implementation (for example, a collection of classes) as a general solution to a problem. An example of a framework is the Struts framework which provides components to facilitate the development of Web applications. Typically, to develop a software application using a framework, a developer would add components to the framework so that the added components together with the components of the framework implement the logic and composite functions required by the software application.
Given that in developing a software application, a developer may have to use components written by others, often in a different language, it is highly likely that code written by the developer will include statements or references to artifacts. As used herein, the term “artifact” refers to any body of code, component or construct defined outside a referencing body of code and existing as a separate entity independently of the referencing body of code. Often, artifacts are created before the referencing code, and are written in a language different from the language of the referencing code. For example, when creating a Java Server Page for a web application, a developer may reference an artifact called “VerifyCardNumber”, which includes logic to verify a credit card number of a consumer during an online purchasing transaction. The artifact “VerifyCardNumber” may be part of a framework, and as such will predate the code being written for the Java Server Page, and may be in a different language, for example Java or C++.
In the above described methodology for software development, maintaining semantic and syntactic consistency may be difficult and requires detailed knowledge of each artifact that is used.
If consistency errors between the artifacts are not detected during the creation or modification of source code, then the only alternative is to detect them after the compiled artifacts are deployed and at runtime. The consistency errors may manifest themselves in several ways ranging from minor errors to catastrophic failure of an application. It is also possible for these errors to remain undetected for a long time causing the application to fail at inopportune times, potentially causing grave economic consequences.